Railroad-car brake



THOMPSON & BACHELDER.

Car-Brake.

Patented -J-uly 6, 1852.

TTES

A. G. BATGHELDER, OF LOYVELL, AND L. F. THOMPSON, OF OHARLESTOWN, MASSACHU- SETTS, ASSIGNOR-S' TO HENRY TANNER, OF BUFFALO, NEW YORK.

RAILROAD-CAR BRAKE.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 9,109, dated July 6, 1852.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known thatwe, AsAHEL G. BATOHEL- DER, of Lowell, and LAFAYETTE F. THOMP- SON, now or late of Gharlestown, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Mode of Operating the Brakes of Railway-Cars; and we do hereby declare that the same is fully described and represented in the following specification and the accompanying drawings, letters, figures, and references thereof.

Of the said drawings Figure 1 denotes a top view of the platform frame of a long car resting on two truck frames, the same also exhibiting our invention as applied to the brakes of the wheels of its two truck frames. Fig. 2 is a side elevation, and Fig. 3 a vertical, central, and longitudinal section of the same.

In the said drawing A denotes the platform of an eight wheel car resting on two truck frames B, C.

D D, E, E, are the wheels of one truck frame, while F, F, G, G, are those of the other truck frame.

H, I, K, L are the axles while M, N, O, P, are the four sets of brakes applied to the wheels. Each set of the brakes is connected to a vibrating lever Q, B, S, or T, which enables the sets of brakes to swing either toward or away from their respective sets of wheels. In the above mentioned drawings the fulcra of these levers are at their upper ends as seen at a, a, &c.

Under the middle of the car platform I arrange a lever A that turns horizontally on a center pin, B. A rod C or D or its equivalent is jointed to each end of the lever A and is extended from thence toward the end of the car, one rod being extended toward one end, while the other is carried toward the opposite end. Each rod is at? tached to a cord or chain 6 at its end, that is wound on the barrel of a windlass E or F fixed on the adjacent end of the platform, there being one windlass at each end of the platform. Between the fulcrum of the lever A and each rod C D there is another rod or chain, as seen at G H which is jointed at one end to the lever A and has its other end jointed to the upper arm of one of two secondary levers I, K. The lower end of the lever I, is jointed to the set of brakes N, while the lower end of the lever K is similarly jointed to the set of brakes O. Rods l N, are respectively jointed to the secondary levers between their lower and upper ends and extend therefrom and are jointed at their opposite ends to the sets of brakes M, P. Under such circumstances, if a person rotates either windlass E or F, so as to wind up its chains, he will produce a draft on the lever A, that will cause all the brakes to simultaneously close down upon their respective set of wheels.

From the above it will be seen that a brakeman at either end of the car, by sim ply turning the windlass at such end can simultaneously operate or make bear against their wheels all the sets of brakes.

Our improvement can readily be applied to sets of brakes arranged between the wheels as well as to those where the brakes clasp each wheel on its two opposite sides.

The principle of arresting or retarding the progress of two or more cars while in motion on a railway by the momentum of one or more of them being made to act on the friction brakes of the said cars through the intervention of any suitable mechanism combined with the bumpers and the brakes, or the combination of the brakes and bumpers and a mechanism that will enable the momentum of one or more of the cars, acting against the bumpers, to force the brakes against the wheels, is not herein claimed; nor is it herein claimed to apply such momentum for such purpose by a mode wherein the brake apparatus is so combined with the axle of one of the wheels by means of a fast pulley on such axle, an endless belt passing around such pulley, and a loose pulley on another axle or shaft, a clutch applied to such loose pulley and the second axle or shaft, whereby it may be made to rotate by the rotation of the axle of the wheels and finally a mechanism or apparatus connecting the second shaft with the brakes of one or both trucks of a car and made to so operate when the loose pulley is clutched to its shaft as to cause the brakes to be forced or drawn against the wheels, for such mode, (it being that invented by George S. Griggs and patented December 31st, 1839) of causing the momentum to operate to arrest the velocity of a car or train of cars diflers essentially from the in Vention hereinbefore set forth and represented in the accompanying drawings, for

the friction of the wheels on the ra ls and the momentum of the moving carriage is employed to put in motion machinery that is brought into action on the brakes, or caused to act on them when connected with the rotating pulley, put in motion by the pulley of the axle of the wheels, the attendant or brake man only performing the oflice of moving the sliding part of the clutch; but

What is claimed by us is- To so combine the brakes of the two trucks with the operative windlasses or their equivalents at both ends of the car, by means of the vibrating lever A, or its equivalent, or mechanism essentially as specified, as to enable the brakeman by operating either of the windlasses to simultaneously apply the brakes of both trucks or bring or force 20 them against their respective wheels, and whether he be at the forward or rear end of the car.

In testimony whereof, we have hereto set our signatures, this eighth day of April, 25 A. D. 1852.

A. G. BATCHELDER. LAFAYETTE F. THOMPSON. Witnesses as to A. G. Batchelder:

DANIEL S. RICHARDSON, NAHUM LEONARD, Jr. Witnesses as to Lafayette F. Thompson:

P. C. TRUMAN, MILON O. MOCLURE. 

